From Shah to Supreme Leader: Iran's Islamic revolution unfolds

India Today

3 days ago

This is the final instalment in a series exploring the complex history of US-Iran relations. Part 1 examined the geopolitical context leading to the 1953 coup, and Part 2 detailed the CIA's role in ousting Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, paving the way for Shah Reza Pahlavi's rule.Here, we trace the Shah's modernisation efforts, the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the 1979 Islamic Revolution that reshaped Iran and its ties with the United States.advertisementHelped by the CIA (see parts 1 and 2) in ousting his rival, the nationalist Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, Shah Reza Pahlavi started a reign of reform and social revolution. Under him, Tehran, the capital, became a modern cosmopolitan centre modeled on cities of the West. But, the Shah's secular, modern vision antagonised the clergy, pitting him against his greatest adversary, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeyn, 1902
Born in 1902 in Khomeyn, a historic city in Iran's Markazi Province, Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini grew up in a fertile plain 160 km from Qom, a key religious center. Khomeini's father, a cleric, was murdered when he was an infant, leaving him to be raised by his deeply religious mother. Her influence shaped his devout outlook, which he deepened through Islamic scholarship in Qom.advertisementKhomeini distinguished himself as a scholar, earning the prestigious title of Ayatollah ('Sign of God'), the highest rank for a Shia cleric. Under the Shah's secular regime, conservative Islam was marginalised, with modern laws replacing Islamic jurisprudence and secular education overshadowing religious studies. Without the Shah's missteps, Khomeini might have remained a respected but obscure teacher in Qom.1963, The White RevolutionLeveraging Iran's position in the OPEC, the Shah played a pivotal role in driving oil prices up during his reign. With the coffers overflowing, he pumped money into infrastructure, believing that development will bring prosperity to urban citizens. Simultaneously, he started the White Revolution, a series of bold reforms that broke up large estates owned by feudal landlords and redistributed land to peasants, aiming to reduce rural poverty and weaken the traditional landowning elite. The Shah also granted women the right to vote, access to education, and greater participation in public life, aligning Iran with Western gender norms.These reforms alienated powerful groups. Landowners resented the loss of their estates, and the clergy, particularly conservative Shia scholars, opposed the Shah's secular policies, which sidelined Islamic law and traditions.Khomeini emerged as a vocal critic, denouncing the Shah's policies as un-Islamic and a betrayal of Iran's cultural and religious identity. He delivered fiery sermons in Qom, accusing the Shah of kowtowing to Western powers, particularly the United States and Israel, and undermining Iran's sovereignty.advertisementKhomeini's rhetoric resonated with the disgruntled landowners, the urban poor, and devout Muslims. His outspoken criticism led to his arrest in June 1963, and eventually exile. Banished by the Shah, Khomeini first settled in Turkey but soon moved to Najaf, Iraq, a major Shia religious center.The Shah was to pay a huge price for turning Khomeini into a pillar of resistance.The Man of the WestIn Washington, DC, 1972, President Richard Nixon saw Iran as a linchpin in the Cold War. Under the Nixon Doctrine, Iran became America's proxy in the Persian Gulf, a counter against Soviet influence. Nixon told advisors, 'The Shah's our man,' arming Iran to the teeth with jets, tanks, missiles, and military technology. In return, Iran's oil fueled Western economies, and its markets opened to American firms. The Shah's pro-Western stance, however, deepened domestic resentment, with many Iranians viewing him as a US puppet.By the late 1970s, the Shah's reforms had created a paradox: economic growth alongside social unrest. Oil wealth enriched elites but left the urban poor and rural communities struggling. Inflation and unemployment soared, and the regime's SAVAK secret police crushed dissent, fuelling anger. Dissent was muzzled, rivals were jailed without trial, and the unlucky ones were summarily executed.advertisementKhomeini amplified the resentment with his fiery sermons. His recorded speeches were smuggled via cassette tapes into Iran. Played in mosques, bazaars, and homes, his messages condemned the Shah's secularism, Western influence, and perceived betrayal of Islamic values. Khomeini's vision of an Islamic government, rooted in Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), promised justice and sovereignty, uniting disparate groups: devout Muslims, disenfranchised workers, students, and even secular nationalists opposed to the Shah's autocracy.Cut from the masses, unaware of ground realities, the Shah was busy in his palace, holding grand parties with celebrities and receptions for visiting leaders. 'A modern nation like Iran will never accept the medieval ideology of mullahs,' he told his followers. Unbeknownst to him, a volcano was waiting to erupt.Qom, 1978: The SparkThe spark came in January 1978, when a government-backed newspaper published an article slandering Khomeini, calling him a traitor and questioning his piety. Outraged, theology students and clerics in Qom protested, only to be met with lethal force from security forces. Dozens were killed, igniting nationwide demonstrations. The protests followed a Shia tradition of mourning the dead on the 40th day, creating a cycle of demonstrations, killings, and further mourning that swelled public outrage.advertisementBy mid-1978, strikes paralysed key industries, including oil production, Iran's economic lifeline. Workers, bazaar merchants, and intellectuals joined the movement. Khomeini's calls for the Shah's ouster grew louder, amplified by BBC Persian broadcasts and Western media. In September, the Black Friday massacre in Tehran, where security forces killed scores of protesters in Jaleh Square, marked a point of no return. Public opinion hardened, and even moderate Iranians turned against the Shah.The Shah, increasingly isolated, vacillated between concessions and crackdowns. In a televised broadcast, he promised free elections and loosened press censorship, but these gestures were too late. His stuttering speech and frail demeanour emboldened his opponents, convinced that the autocratic leader's resolve and hold was weakening.In October 1978, under pressure from Iraq, Khomeini had relocated to Paris. At his modest apartment in Neauphle-le-Chateau, where he was welcomed by the French government and elite, the global media gave him a megaphone. His image—stern, bearded, cloaked in black—became a symbol of resistance.advertisementThe Shah Flees, Khomeini ReturnsBy January 1979, the Shah's regime was crumbling. Strikes crippled the economy, and mass protests, often led by women and students, filled the streets. One afternoon, the fresh fragrance of sangak, the traditional Persian bread, made with hot stones in a blazing oven, mingled with the air. Standing in long queues, customers discussed the Shah's fate when a Molotov cocktail shattered the silence. Within minutes, an angry crowd burst through the smoke, pulling Major General Taghi Latifi, a ranking officer of the Shah's police, from his car. He was dragged through the streets and beaten by a huge crowd near Tehran University. On January 16, 1979, Shah Reza Pahlavi left Iran for Egypt, officially for a 'vacation,' hoping to return. But it was to be his farewell.His departure left a power vacuum. A provisional government under Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar, a moderate nationalist, took over. But real power now vested in Khomeini.On February 1, 1979, Khomeini returned to Iran after 15 years in exile. His Air France flight, carrying journalists and supporters, landed in Tehran to a rapturous welcome. Over a million Iranians flooded the streets, chanting his name. Khomeini, settled in a school in northern Tehran, refusing to negotiate with Bakhtiar's government and declaring it illegitimate.On February 11, 1979, after clashes between loyalist troops and revolutionary militias, the military declared neutrality, and Bakhtiar's government collapsed. Khomeini appointed Mehdi Bazargan, a liberal Islamist, as interim prime minister to oversee a transition to an Islamic Republic. A referendum in April 1979, with 98% approval, established the Islamic Republic of Iran, with Khomeini as its Supreme Leader.The Final StrawKhomeini spewed poison on the US, calling it the 'Great Satan' with Israel as its regional stooge. His agenda of hate triggered the biggest showdown between Islamist forces and Washington. On November 4, 1979, college students, most of them in their teens, stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, saying they would stage a peaceful sit-in. But they took the embassy staff hostage, sparking a 444-day standoff.Blindfolded and bound, diplomats were paraded before cameras. In Washington, Carter's presidency was tested through the crisis. Nightly news broadcasts counted the days, America's pride bruised with each passing one.The crisis strained US-Iran relations, and reshaped international diplomacy, positioning Tehran as Washington's biggest adversary in the Middle East.- EndsMust Watch